Loosing sleep

[Braziliandoctor]

Dear doctors, my exposure was giving ( i was the receptive)oral sex ( without ejaculation) to a man of unknown status. Five weeks later i took a rapid test which showed a faint line on the T mark. I had taken the same rapid test before and it was negative. I got desperate and took another rapid test (different type, from a different lab) which was negative. I was so scared that  At the same day (5 weeks after exposure) i took a fourth generation hiv (hiv 1 and 2)ag/ant from abbot which was negative and a real time pcr hiv-1 also negative (undetectable).
I remain very worried about that rapid test that was positive... Do i need
More testing?? I am a physiciAn  but i am so nervous and afraid i cant come to a conclusion. Please help me. Can i move on or do i need more testing?

[Braziliandoctor]

Thanks

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Glad to help.  this will end this thread.  EWH

[Braziliandoctor]

Thank you very much.

[Braziliandoctor]

Thank you very much ! Best wishes

[Edward W Hook, MD]

It is time for you to forget this and move on.  If you had gotten HIV, your PCR test would have been positive.  EWH

[Braziliandoctor]

Sorry for asking; its just that i want to know if i really can forget this and move on. Best regards

[Braziliandoctor]

At 5 weeks would there be a window for the pcr hiv test?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Sorry, I misunderstood your original post.   Rapid tests are screening tests which need to be confirmed.  Since your positive rapid test you have had other negative tests for HIV antibody as well as for the virus itself.  Thus the results of your screening test are NOT confirmed and your multiple tests indicate that you are not infected.  the faint line you saw appears to be a false positve result. EWH

[Braziliandoctor]

Please answer doctor. I am so anguished. Thanks

[Braziliandoctor]

Doctors, sorry for rewriting but i guess i was not clear. One rapid test was positive: a faint line on T and a line on C (control). Thats why i decided to do another rapid test of a different brand: it was negative.  Anyhow, i found that faint line weird because i had taken that test ( that brand) some time ago and it was negative. Then, i took the fourth generation test which came negative and the pcr hiv test which was undetectable. All of these at 5 weeks after exposure. That faint line on the T of the rapid tests keeps haunting me. Please help: do i need any more testing?
Ps: exposure: receptive fellation without ejaculation.
Thanks

[Braziliandoctor]

Thats why im nervous... One type of rapid test was positive ( faint line on T and the control line marked). Thanks

[Braziliandoctor]

Dear doctor: the t line was faint. The control line was there... I guess the rapid test was positive

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum. I'll be please to comment.  As you point out, you do not know if your partner had HIV and in fact, as I'm sure you know, statistically it is unlikely that he did.  Even if he did, the risk for HIV from performing oral sex on an infected partner is tiny- less than 1 infection per 10,000 exposures.   Thus even before testing, the risk of having been infected through the encounter you describe is very, very low.  

Your test results make the possibility of infection effectively zero.  I understand that when control tests are faint they can cause concerns as to whether the results are reliable or not but the study of such tests indicate that ANY visible control line means the test worked.  you have now confirmed your negative result with tests for viral DNA (the PCR test) and both viral p24 antigen and HIV antibodies, all of which are negative at times when the results are completely reliable.  Based on the information you have provided, I urge you to be confident that you were not infected.  there is no reason for further concern and no reason for additional testing.

I hope my comment is helpful to you. EWH